6 Nations 2021

[Flash Gordon]

What do people think of potential irish lion over or under 5

Ryan and Furlong are the only assured picks. Healy, Henderson, Stander, Murray, Sexton, Henshaw and Ringrose are also in the mix but I'd say only half of them will make it...so that works out at about five or six Irish tourists in total. I'd say five.

Would be surprised to see Murray, Healy and Sexton go to be honest. Porter might be in the mix too. Always thought Larmour, Connors and Lowe had a chance as bolters but Larmour and Connors aren't getting picked to start and Lowe's defensive frailty is being badly exposed. Beirne may ask a question and covers 2 positions.

[JB1973]

One that got away from you in the end there yesterday, can't help but feel if sexton had played the full 80 in both matches you would be 2 and 0 not vice versa.

France took their foot off the gas after their second try and it was there for you to pinch it at the death, I'd be very shocked if sexton ignored that over lap or missed that first kick, harsh on burns but he just isn't a test class 10 I'm sorry to say.

Your line out went better and beirne had another big game and him and gray on form should be the lions locks at the minute.

Good to see Ruddock get a game he worked hard but maybe he could have been used more as a carrier?

France scored two lovely try's and they are going to be a serious handful in Paris with the sun on their backs later in the tournament, their defence at the end was typical of an Edwards coached team.

We are the opposite in terms of being 2/0 but I think we'd certainly have lost both if we had played against the full 15 for 80

We scored some great try's sat and LRZ is a breath of fresh air with his pace and playing with such freedom , tupric was everywhere again and our line out went far better , with players returning from injury and home advantage a triple crown is not out of the question

Halohalo and Botham did well off the bench and are certainly pressing for starting spots, our big worry is 9 and 10 with davies and biggar struggling will pivac have the bravery to drop both? time well tell

for the scots Watson and Ferguson in the back row are really playing well, hogg is a major threat as is the big bok winger they have

We could see quite a few scots in any lions party this year if it goes ahead but I fancy france will have too much for them this week

[Blue not red blood]

Both Jgp and Caey will bring a speed of getting to the ruck and quicker distribution that Murray has been noticeably poor in the last few years.
They both are good snipers which Murray again seems to have lost.
Big concern is BB place kicking, third best in Ulster and not a regular.
Interesting comment on Ringrose as a kicker, he only missed one kick in SCT year and has kicked the odd conversion for Leinster.

You cannot go into a big game without a goalkicker
Burns missed a sitter

[Flash Gordon]

Both Jgp and Caey will bring a speed of getting to the ruck and quicker distribution that Murray has been noticeably poor in the last few years.
They both are good snipers which Murray again seems to have lost.
Big concern is BB place kicking, third best in Ulster and not a regular.
Interesting comment on Ringrose as a kicker, he only missed one kick in SCT year and has kicked the odd conversion for Leinster.

You cannot go into a big game without a goalkicker
Burns missed a sitter

In a 3 point game. Absolutely right. I'd have been surprised to see him slot the long penalty Ross scored too. Wonder if Ringrose should have been kicking or if Murray would have kicked if had played. I'm not a fan of Burns but he's not getting much help from the coaching staff.

[Ruckedtobits]

It is only in reading the match reports across various French media that you get a sense of the depth of French trepidation at coming to Dublin. Yes, I was aware of the statistic that "France haven't won in a decade in Dublin" but like many other Irish rugby fans, I had treated that stat as a poultice to salve our anxiety at facing a rampant French Squad which looks more impressive on each outing.

However, it is clear from the outpourings from various media and French stars of the past that Ireland had truly become the bete noire of French rugby and Dublin had become a venue to fear rather than savour.

Perhaps we should be more optimistic in viewing what we brought to the game yesterday. This French Squad are not used to surviving on 'morsals of possession' and yet that is what two of the reports referenced this morning. From Henderson's initial blockdown to his almost intercept of a French defending lineout throw, rugby correspondents in France considered that the Irish had little luck in the opening quarter. Aliied to the luck of the bounce which favoured the French attacker, they considered not a lot went Ireland's way when Le Roux was 'doing his penance'.

Thus perhaps a change of perspective might be in order. French journalists after all believe the we are good enough to beat England at home in the final game.

[Logorrhea]

Thus perhaps a change of perspective might be in order.

Not all of us are freaking out, its just the loud reactionary shite that that tends to dominate the conversation immediately after a defeat.

[Flash Gordon]

It is only in reading the match reports across various French media that you get a sense of the depth of French trepidation at coming to Dublin. Yes, I was aware of the statistic that "France haven't won in a decade in Dublin" but like many other Irish rugby fans, I had treated that stat as a poultice to salve our anxiety at facing a rampant French Squad which looks more impressive on each outing.

However, it is clear from the outpourings from various media and French stars of the past that Ireland had truly become the bete noire of French rugby and Dublin had become a venue to fear rather than savour.

Perhaps we should be more optimistic in viewing what we brought to the game yesterday. This French Squad are not used to surviving on 'morsals of possession' and yet that is what two of the reports referenced this morning. From Henderson's initial blockdown to his almost intercept of a French defending lineout throw, rugby correspondents in France considered that the Irish had little luck in the opening quarter. Aliied to the luck of the bounce which favoured the French attacker, they considered not a lot went Ireland's way when Le Roux was 'doing his penance'.

Thus perhaps a change of perspective might be in order. French journalists after all believe the we are good enough to beat England at home in the final game.

Not sure about that. Yes we could have won the game but it would have been an injustice. France were far more effective with the ball and probably were 10 points better (penalty hit the post, the pass knocked on by a head with the try line beckoning).

[betty swallocks]

Little point in Murray/Sexton being involved against Italy, so a selection of Cooney and Carty at 9 and 10 with Casey and Frawley/H Byrne at 21 and 22 makes sense.

[Flash Gordon]

Little point in Murray/Sexton being involved against Italy, so a selection of Cooney and Carty at 9 and 10 with Casey and Frawley/H Byrne at 21 and 22 makes sense.

Think Cooney's ship might have sailed and the coaches don't seem to like Carty. Maybe JGP and Ross Byrne with Harry and Casey on the bench. All of this really should have happened in the Autumn.....

[MarkyDeSad]

Not sure what difference tweaking the backline will make if the attack plan remains so two dimensional, back and forth across the pitch rarely making any ground. I thought Mike Catt had a lot of questions to answer going into this game and he didn't answer any.
Simple question, what is our backline attacking threat? It's been a while since I've seen noticed any. Very frustrating, especially as other areas are improving.

[Oldschool]

Both Jgp and Caey will bring a speed of getting to the ruck and quicker distribution that Murray has been noticeably poor in the last few years.
They both are good snipers which Murray again seems to have lost.
Big concern is BB place kicking, third best in Ulster and not a regular.
Interesting comment on Ringrose as a kicker, he only missed one kick in SCT year and has kicked the odd conversion for Leinster.

You cannot go into a big game without a goalkicker
Burns missed a sitter

As my old English teacher (still alive) used to say.
You can but may not.
To paraphrase.
You can but you should not.

[Oldschool]

Little point in Murray/Sexton being involved against Italy, so a selection of Cooney and Carty at 9 and 10 with Casey and Frawley/H Byrne at 21 and 22 makes sense.

Think Cooney's ship might have sailed and the coaches don't seem to like Carty. Maybe JGP and Ross Byrne with Harry and Casey on the bench. All of this really should have happened in the Autumn.....

Well the coaches need to get over themselves because they'll end up like EOS if they keep it up.
JGP should start against Scotland, Cooney on the bench.
Harry Byrne should be on the bench with Carty on the bench.
Against Scotland Carty and Byrne should be the OHs.
Unless Harry has an exceptional debut.
The only thing bringing BB into the squad did was cause more problems rather than solve them.
A very poor bit of business by everyone concerned.

[Oldschool]

What do people think of potential irish lion over or under 5

Ryan and Furlong are the only assured picks. Healy, Henderson, Stander, Murray, Sexton, Henshaw and Ringrose are also in the mix but I'd say only half of them will make it...so that works out at about five or six Irish tourists in total. I'd say five.

Would be surprised to see Murray, Healy and Sexton go to be honest. Porter might be in the mix too. Always thought Larmour, Connors and Lowe had a chance as bolters but Larmour and Connors aren't getting picked to start and Lowe's defensive frailty is being badly exposed. Beirne may ask a question and covers 2 positions.

I'd love to see Lowe go, Gattie would sort his defence out.

[Oldschool]

Thus perhaps a change of perspective might be in order.

Not all of us are freaking out, its just the loud reactionary shite that that tends to dominate the conversation immediately after a defeat.

Probably being a bit unfair however - Whenever everyone else is running around tearing their hair out and you can keep your calm, then you don't know what is going on.
The messing around with BB should be of concern to anyone who is interested in the well being of Irish rugby.
That's totally on management, BB doesn't select himself.

[Oldschool]

So 2 games and 2 losses means that we are done for this years 6 nations.
We should now be looking to use the remaining 3 games to look to the future.

JGP, while he did have a reasonably good game, is not the long term solution.
Same can be said for BB and RB on the evidence to date.

Granted Harry has yet to show his wares at HC level, but if he is the talent that we keep hearing about, then he should start outside Casey for the Italian game.

Ruddock, while he didn’t have a poor game, he is probably at the peak of his powers right now at at 30 now, he is unlikely to ever become a regular starting international.

For me he deserved his spot, and if we were in contention for the 6 nations, should probably retain it, but looking forward, Coombes looks like a long term solution at 6/8 alongside Dorris and one of the many 7s available.

Lowe, for all he does well, is a defensive liability, and he doesn’t appear to be making any progress there.
His positioning and tackling are below international level.

I would probably limit the tinkering at that, because the young and inexperienced players would benefit more from having experience around them.

For me the team V Italy would be:
Killer
Herring
Furlong
Ryan
Beirne
Coombes
Stander
JVF
Casey
H Byrne
Conway
Henshaw
Ringrose
Earls
Keenan

Starting two uncapped half backs is not very sensible.
One or the other.

[MylesNaGapoleen]

I'd love to see Lowe go, Gattie would sort his defence out.

Leaving aside his defensive flaws....I think Lowe has an abundance of plus points. I always prefer when he's starting for Leinster.
Can't help but wonder if he is too eager to be the hero in defence being new to the green jersey...instead of holding his mark and trusting the guys on the inside.

In the same breath...you maybe right OldSchool. Who would you have in, instead? and would you like to see him dropped from the leinster team as well? or do we have a special strategy to cover his weaknesses in defence?

[Ruckedtobits]

If Stockdale is missing Ulster's trip to Glasgow I'd love to see them give Aaron Sexton a run. On the only occasion I'vee seen him in 9 months (Ulster A v Leinster A on a stream) he looks big and very quick with good ball skills i.e. catching and passing. It wasn't enough to be certain that he has all the talents, but he certainly has Hickey-like pace, not just acceleration, and we haven't had much of that on an Irish wing for a while.

[leinsterforever]

He's a lot faster than Hickie. 10.43 to 11.19.

[Oldschool]

I'd love to see Lowe go, Gattie would sort his defence out.

Leaving aside his defensive flaws....I think Lowe has an abundance of plus points. I always prefer when he's starting for Leinster.
Can't help but wonder if he is too eager to be the hero in defence being new to the green jersey...instead of holding his mark and trusting the guys on the inside.

In the same breath...you maybe right OldSchool. Who would you have in, instead? and would you like to see him dropped from the leinster team as well? or do we have a special strategy to cover his weaknesses in defence?

TBH Lowe can be very destructive in attack and has a great boot on him so being reluctant to dump him is understandable.
Rather than developing a strategy to deal with his inability to stay out and mark his man it's time to bite the bullet and go hard at curing or at least mitigating his problem, Stockdale suffers from the same weakness.
It's fair to say that a back three of Stockdale, Lowe and Keenan at FB could be devastating but selecting Stockdale and Lowe in the same team isn't a runner.
At the moment it's advantage Lowe.
So how do you sort out the basic problem.
Defensive coaches at Leinster and Ireland need to talk and come up with an agreed approach.
One tool in the box is financial pain but I'd prefer to use that as a last resort, a stick not to be used but in the background.
I'm not a coach obviously but surely this is a problem that has been fixed with other players.
Maybe Lowe needs to be empowered to stay out by the rest of the squad too.
You mentioned developing a strategy, maybe that has already been done and is the reason POM was given license to loiter out in the tramlines.
The obvious next question is whither Larmour?
Edit just realized you misunderstood my earlier post.
I meant maybe he'd get selected for the lions and Gattie would sort him, unlikely i know.

[Oldschool]

If Stockdale is missing Ulster's trip to Glasgow I'd love to see them give Aaron Sexton a run. On the only occasion I'vee seen him in 9 months (Ulster A v Leinster A on a stream) he looks big and very quick with good ball skills i.e. catching and passing. It wasn't enough to be certain that he has all the talents, but he certainly has Hickey-like pace, not just acceleration, and we haven't had much of that on an Irish wing for a while.

Pace is king in a wing.